Omg guys! Thank you all so much for all the reviews, favorites and follows! It's so kind of you all and I really really appreciate it! It definitely convinced me to really continue this story, which is why I have chapter number two for you all! I hope you love this one as well!

I did not grammar check it so I'm sorry for mistakes that might be in it. English is not my first language and sometimes my head messes up. Forgive me.

I will promise to update as fast as I can, which can be from a couple of days till two weeks, but I promise that that is the max and I will try to upload faster than this second chapter.

Anyways, enjoy it and please do let me know what you think and what you would like to see happening! :)

Emma felt so relieved when she finally arrived home at six in the morning. She was exhausted after her night shift, and with the elevator not working she had to drag herself up onto the 5th floor towards her small apartment. She took a deep breath and quietly entered. All she wanted was to go to bed and sleep till at least dinner. However, she knew that was not an option. It would still be a couple of hours before she finally got the time to go to bed.

She tiptoed towards the bedrooms, took one lingering look at her inviting room and bed, and opened the door next to it. Slowly she walked to the small bed, and sat down next to it. She stared at the small boy sleeping peacefully and for a second she forgot about how tired she was, and how her head was aching, and how fucked up her life really was sometimes. In this moment, everything was perfect. She stroke the boy's hair from his face and smiled at him. She looked at the timer next to his bed, and just like always it turned to 6:05 and a small beeping sound emerged from it. Emma immediately turned it off and looked at her son again as his eyes slowly opened.

"Mom?" He said, his voice shaky.

"Hi." She whispered. "Did you sleep well?"

The boy nodded and slowly sat up in his bed to hug her. "How was work?"

Emma smiled at him. He always seemed to amaze her with his kindness. "It was good, thank you Henry. Did you have fun with Ruby yesterday?"

Henry nodded more eagerly now. He always loved it when Ruby came over. She usually let him stay up a little later than normal, and she never said 'no' when he wanted to play games.

"Good. I'm glad you did." She took a breath and stood up to turn on the lights, even though Henry complained that it hurt his sleep eyes. "I"m going to make breakfast okay? You try to find some clothes for today and I will come help you once I have your pancakes started. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah."

Emma left the bedroom and walked back towards the kitchen to get breakfast started for them. Henry is only 7, but she usually lets him pick out his own clothes first, because she knows he likes the independence. She will check later to make sure he doesn't decide to wear his pajama's to school. She's not really hungry herself, but she knows her son likes to eat together and even though her work schedule changes a lot, and she works a lot of nightshifts, she tries to keep everything as normal as possible for Henry. She doesn't want it to affect his life.

She decides to call Ruby while she's "elegantly" putting the pancake batter into the pan. Somehow she never seems to get better at this. The phone rings a couple of times before the other girl answers.

"Hey." The girl answers.

"Hi. It's me."

"Hey!" She says, more enthusiastic this time.

"How was everything yesterday?" The blonde asks.

"It was great, as usual. We ate pizza, played some games and watched TV."

Emma smiles. "Sounds great. I just wanted to say thanks for watching him, I know you had other plans. So really, thanks."

"Anytime for you. You know that. I know you're all doing it for him."

"I am, but still, you probably made your girlfriend what's-her-name very sad."

Ruby laughed on the other side of the phone. "She'll get over it. Besides, I don't think it's working out."

This time it was Emma who laughed. "You're kidding me! I thought you said she could be the one."

"Well you know me."

"Yeah.. I do." Emma said, softer this time.

It stayed quiet for a little while until Ruby spoke up again. "So.. do you think that we can hangout sometime soon again? Just the two of us?"

Normally Emma would have said yes right away, but suddenly she fell quiet for some reason. She and Ruby had known each since they were 16 years old, which was almost ten years now. They had been a couple for two of those years, but it was very casual and they both decided that they were better as friends. However, sometimes they still liked to hook up from time to time. Just because well.. they did have fun together. Emma didn't really know the best way to describe them, but they were best friends for sure. She could always count on Ruby to have her back.

"Em?"

The blonde was suddenly snapped from her thoughts. "Oh um sorry Rubes. Yeah, sometime soon."

"Okay then… well I just arrived at work so I have to go, but I'll talk to you soon okay?"

"Okay. Thanks again."

Emma wondered why she didn't want to hang out with Ruby. Maybe she was just really tired, it had been a crazy night. Lots of drunk people with broken noses, and then there had been that weird incident with that woman.. Emma had tried not to think about it, but how could she? That kiss was amazing. Sloppy, yes, but amazing. She probably shouldn't have agreed to the bet, but in some way she just couldn't say no. The blonde shook her head. She had to stop thinking about this. Was she crazy or something? It meant nothing and it was nothing, just an innocent kiss for a stupid bet from a woman she did not know. Instead, she should focus on the burning pancakes in from of her.

"Shit, shit shit." Emma said as she quickly removed the pancakes from the pan.

"Henry! Are you almost done? Your pancakes are ready." She yelled as she placed the pancakes on the two plates and carried them to the table. It was already getting a bit later than normal due to her conversation with Ruby so she hoped the boy had managed to get himself dressed properly for school. Instead of waiting for an answer the blonde decided to check on it herself.

She walked into the bathroom only to find him in a small dinosaur onesie that Emma had got for him last Christmas. "Henry!" She said, making the boy face her. Immediately his cheeks flushed.

"Please mom, please."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Sorry kid. It's not happening. As awesome as this is, your fancy school won't allow it." Emma had chosen for some of the better elementary schools in New York for Henry. It was expensive, but she wanted the best education for her son, she wanted him to get the opportunities that she never got. It meant that she had to work some extra shifts, but it was all worth the effort. Henry loved school, and he was one of the smartest kids in his class.

The boy frowned as he went back to his bedroom to change. "Hurry up. We're gonna be late!"

Emma and Henry ran the last couple of yards towards the school. The blonde was holding her son's hand and dragging him behind her. "Not so fast mom."

"Your teacher is gonna kill me if we're late, and I think he already hates me."

Henry laughed through his panting. "I think so too."

Just as they set foot inside the building the bell rang. "Oh no." The boy said, looking up at his mother.

"Oh no indeed. You think mister Gold will let you in?"

Henry shook his head. "No.. we have to go to the principal right away. I think they changed it since we have the new one."

Emma groaned as if she were an 8 year old herself. "Okay then. Let's go. I have to meet this principal anyway."

The two walked into the office of the principal which, unfortunately, was empty. "Great." The blonde said, taking a seat into one of the chairs.

It was larger than it had been before, she noticed, and there seemed to be a desk for an assistant, as well as a separate door to the real office. Just as Emma wanted to stand up to knock on the door, someone suddenly called out. "Hello?"

Emma looked around to notice that it was coming from another small room, which seemed to be some sort of archive room. "Uh yeah. Henry Swan here with his mother."

"You're late I assume?" The woman's voice from the other room said.

Emma wasn't quite sure if she should walk over the room, or if she should stay seated. She looked over at Henry who just shrugged. "Yeah, he's late." It stayed quiet for a second. "Sorry." Emma added.

"It's okay. I'll be right there. It's good that you came here, the new principal would probably like to chat with the two of you anyways. Swan you said?"

"Yes." Emma responded. "Henry Swan and I'm his mother. Emma Swan."

"Emma Swan?" The woman's voice said slowly, as the woman emerged from the room.

The blonde stared at the brunette standing in front of her. "Oh no."

"Yes.. you could say that." The brunette responded.

Henry nudged her elbow to get her attention. "Mom, do you know her?"

Emma cleared her voice. "Um sort of.. I guess. This is Belle." She said, sort of unsure.

"Yes, yes." The woman rushed. "I'm Belle, I'm the new principal's assistant." She waved kindly at Henry, who awkwardly waved back at her.

The three of them stared at each other for a few - very uncomfortable - seconds before Belle finally broke the silence.

"You can go in now."

Emma groaned once more. "Stay here with Belle, Henry. I'll be right back. I'm just going to introduce you and have a chat and then you can go to class okay?"

He nodded and grabbed one of the books laying in the big office.

The blonde knocked on the door once, before she decided not to wait and just enter. She looked at the woman sitting behind the desk. She recognized her instantly. Not that she had expected to see anyone else after encountering Belle just now and seeing her nervous reaction.

Regina's beautiful dark hair was flowing around her face as the woman was focusing on some paperwork laying in front of her. Emma stared at her, and tried to figure out why her stomach was doing back flips. While she stared at her, the kiss kept playing over and over in her head and Emma had to force herself to think of anything - or anyone - else. Just as the woman wanted to speak, she finally looked up and noticed Emma standing there. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.
Emma only now saw the dark circles under her eyes, as well as the empty cups of coffee laying on the desk. She must be exhausted and completely hungover after that night. The blonde realized they had been staring at each other for a full minute now. She should probably say something.

"Hi again."

Thank you so much for reading! Please tell me what you think :)